Tanks move forward in Gaza as Palestinian militants launch missiles toward Israel

Residents and officials reported that on Monday, as fighting erupted in Gaza and Israeli tanks penetrated farther into the enclave, the terrorist Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad launched a flurry of rockets into Israel.

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad are supported by Iran. According to Islamic Jihad, its forces responded to “the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people” by firing rockets against various Israeli settlements near the Gaza border.

The Israeli military reported that no one was hurt in the roughly 20-rocket burst. However, the incident demonstrated that, nearly nine months into an offensive that Israel claims is meant to neutralize threats against it, militants still have the ability to launch rockets.

In southern Gaza’s eastern Khan Younis, residents of a number of districts reported hearing voicemails from Israeli phone numbers telling them to leave their houses.

Army spokesman Avichay Adraee called out to locals and displaced persons residing in such locations on social networking site X, saying, “For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the humanitarian zone.”

Some speculated that this would indicate that Israeli forces, who had left the region many weeks earlier, will be returning. The missiles were fired from the Khan Younis area, according to a statement released by the Israeli military earlier on Monday.

The Islamist organization Hamas, which controls Gaza and was in charge of the attack on Israel on October 7 that started the conflict, is getting closer to losing its military prowess, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He added that less intensive procedures would go on.

“We are advancing to the end of the phase of eliminating the terrorist army of Hamas, and there will be a continuation to strike its remnants,” Netanyahu stated.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, violence also erupted on Monday. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, an Israeli military operation in the city of Tulkarm resulted in the deaths of a woman and a boy. An Islamic Jihad member was killed in the same place by an Israeli attack one day prior.

Terrorists are still attacking Israeli forces in several regions of Gaza where the army has been for months.

According to locals, Israeli tanks continued their advances into the Shejaia neighborhood of eastern Gaza City for a fifth day. They also made further advances into western and central Rafah, in southern Gaza, close to the Egyptian border.

The Israeli military reported that it had discovered numerous weapons in Shejaia on Monday and that it had killed several militants in action there.

According to Hamas, its members had killed a number of Israeli soldiers after luring them inside a house that was bombed to explode east of Rafah.

Without giving any further information, the Israeli military declared that a soldier had died in southern Gaza. According to Israel’s Army Radio, the soldier was killed in a house that was set on fire in Rafah. This may be a reference to the incident that Islamic Jihad described.

The Israeli military reported that a jihadist in Rafah had been killed by an airstrike after he had launched an anti-tank missile at their soldiers.

Israel has indicated that it will shortly wrap up its operation in Rafah, which was intended to eradicate Hamas. According to officials, once the war’s main phase ends, the troops would concentrate on smaller-scale operations aimed at preventing Hamas from reassembling.

According to Israeli counts, the battle started on October 7 when fighters commanded by Hamas stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and capturing some 250 prisoners, including soldiers and civilians, before retaking Gaza.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israel’s retaliatory onslaught has claimed the lives of about 38,000 Palestinians and destroyed the densely populated coastal territory.

Although officials claim that the majority of the fatalities are civilians, the Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. According to Israel, at least one-third of the Palestinian deaths in Gaza are combatants, while 317 of its troops have died there.

STALLED CEASEFIRE EFFORTS

The US-backed efforts by Arab mediators to achieve a ceasefire have faltered. According to Hamas, a solution must bring an end to the conflict and result in an Israeli departure from Gaza. Israel claims that until Hamas is destroyed, it will only accept brief cessations of hostilities.

Palestinian border officials claimed that 54 Palestinians who had been captured by Israeli forces during the conflict had been released.

Among them was Al Shifa Hospital’s director, Muhammad Abu Selmeyah, who was taken into custody by the military when its forces initially invaded the hospital in November.

Israel said that Hamas was making military use of the hospital. The military has led media into a tunnel located at the facility and presented CCTV footage from the hospital obtained on October 7, which shows gunmen and captives on the property.

Hospital utilization for military objectives has been refuted by Hamas. On Monday, Abu Selmeyah refuted the accusations and stated that several captives had perished and that other mistreatment had occurred during their incarceration, including deprivation of food and medication.

At a news conference held at a hospital in southern Gaza, Abu Selmeyah stated, “I was beaten in the head until blood came out, more than once, and I was subjected to severe torture.” He also shattered his little finger.

Israel declared in May that it was looking into the deaths of Palestinians who were taken prisoner during the conflict as well as allegations of mistreatment made by rights organizations and freed detainees against a military-run detention camp.

The military refrained from commenting on Abu Selmeyah’s statements right away.